BROOKFIELD — Aqua Ohio water customers in Brookfield and Hubbard townships can expect to see larger bills after the Ohio Public Utilities Commission this week approved Aqua Ohio’s request to raise rates in its Masury division.

Aqua Ohio filed an application to increase its rates in June 2021, saying its previous rates were “no longer sufficient to support a reasonable return on the investment to provide the service.” The company president said Aqua had put some $147 million into infrastructure since it last asked to increase rates in 2017.

Aqua Ohio Inc. President Robert Davis in July 2021 told PUCO that investment in infrastructure, such as replacing and installing water lines, meters and hydrants and improvements to water treatment facilities, as the main reason for a revenue deficiency.

The application asked to raise rates in its Masury and Lake Erie service divisions.

Aqua Ohio was originally asking to raise its rates enough to bump its rate of returns from 5.32 percent to 7.42 percent, which would have meant bringing in $9,179,242 more a year.

Aqua Ohio later agreed to per 6.78 percent rate of return, which means generating an extra $5,178,891. PUCO approved the rate increase needed to get Aqua Ohio to that profit level and accepted new tariffs went into effect this week.

Brookfield Township Trustee Dan Suttles said the township was aware of Aqua Ohio’s petition.

“No one likes to see a rate increase. and I’m sure its going to affect our residents who live on limited income,” Suttles said.

The change affects some 1,425 water customers in Brookfield and Hubbard townships, but does not apply to 23,235 customers in the larger Struthers division, which includes the Struthers, Campbell, Lowellville, Poland, New Middletown, Beaver and Coitsville areas, and parts of Canfield and Boardman.

For unmetered service, the new rates are $51.44 for residential properties, $66.88 for commercial and $16.60 for yard hydrants.

Metered rates will start at $13 per month for 5/8-inch and 3/4-inch meters, up to $652.40 for 6-inch meters. Customers will be charged $0.9480 per gallon for the first 15,000 gallons per month, $0.8740 for the next 85,000 gallons and $0.6780 for more than 100,000 gallons.

The previous metered rates, set in March 2017, started at $10 per month for 5/8-inch and 3/4-inch meters and went up to $500 for 6-inch service meters. Consumption charges were $0.8810 per gallon for the first 15,000 gallons monthly, $.07489 for the next 85,000 gallons and $0.6255 for more than 100,000 gallons.

As part of the new rates, Aqua Ohio agreed to establish a shareholder-funded program to provide bill-payment assistance to low-income customers throughout its service territory.

Aqua Ohio, headquartered in Boardman, as of 2021 served some 150,550 customers in 19 counties.

Aqua Ohio in March offered Trumbull County $8 million for its Southeast Public Water System, which supplies water to parts of Brookfield, Vienna and Hubbard townships.

The request to sell, in the form of a letter from Davis, came with support from elected officials in Vienna and Hubbard. At the time, Vienna Trustee Phil Pegg said the water supplied by the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District through Niles was “horrible.”

Trumbull County commissioners Frank Fuda and Mauro Cantalamessa resoundingly flushed the offer in late April when they voted that the water district, or any part of it, was not for sale, though they said they owed it to the taxpayers to continue to explore options. Commissioner Niki Frenchko had voted to approve a similar measure that said the district was not for sale but also closed the door to any offers not formally requested by the board of commissioners.

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